Enough with the reports of Wes Welker staying or going. It's all speculation and conflicting.
Here is the deal if Patriots fans really want to know what’s going to happen. The New England Patriots' stick has been in the sand for over a year now, and they're not going to move it. $8 million was the number last year, and that’s what it is this year.
Bill Belichick doesn’t pay for depreciation a year removed. Welker was a time valued entity when the team franchised him in 2012, thus making his value depreciate in 2013. Welker’s thinking is flawed if he thinks he’s going to draw another offer and the Patriots will match it.
In 2006, receiver David Givens had a deal with the Houston Texans for $17 million, the same number that the Patriots had, and it looked as if Givens would return to Foxboro. However, Tennessee jumped in and offered $24 million. It was bye bye time for Givens.
Once Welker draws an offer more than the Patriots, he’s gone, because he would have taken the Patriots offer in the first place. Furthermore, when Welker does hit the market, the Patriots will withdraw the offer on the table and reduce it. So if Welker comes back, it’s because he couldn’t get more than what the Patriots offered, but remember the new offer will be less, meaning the market doesn’t see Welker’s value as much as the Patriots.
Either way, Welker is gone like the wind. Forget Tom Brady’s restructuring, it has nothing to do with Welker, that’s not how the Patriots operate.
Welker played hardball a year too late if he wanted to stay in New England. However, if Welker is in a Patriots uniform come fall, Belichick played his cards right, and Wes waited one year too long.
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